Connecting to meetings with barcodes or other watermarks on meeting content

ABSTRACT

Methods and Systems for connecting to online meetings are provided. In order to connect to an online meeting, coordinates for the meeting can be discoverable by an image or audio watermark overlaid onto content being shared by the online meeting. A person attending a physical meeting in which at least one attendee device or meeting facilitation device is connected to an online meeting can discover the coordinates for the online meeting by capturing and decoding an image or audio watermark overlaid on the content of the online meeting. The image or audio watermark may include a barcode superimposed on a content screen that can be captured and decoded by the person&#39;s computing device. A meetings application client on the computing device can be used to navigate to the coordinates discovered by the person&#39;s computing device to enable the person to join the meeting.

BACKGROUND

Currently, people join online meetings by means of meeting coordinates(such as a universal resource locator (URL) or a dial-in number) thatare shared separately from the online meeting experience. To enablesomeone to join an online meeting, a meeting organizer shares meetingcoordinates by, for example, issuing a meeting invitation providing themeeting coordinates, a meeting identifier, and a meeting password usedby the invitee to be admitted to the meeting. To participate in theonline meeting, a person opens a tool (like email) on their computingdevice to find the meeting coordinates (and other information) shared bythe meeting organizer and then uses the information from the invitationto join the online meeting at the scheduled time.

If another person would like to join the online meeting, an invitationis sent to that person. In some cases, the meeting coordinates werenever shared with some of the participants, either because of the waythey were invited or because the meeting was set up ad hoc with noadvance sharing of the online coordinates. An online meeting interfacemay have content which augments the experience even for people who arephysically present at a meeting. It would be desirable to have atechnique that allows a person to join an online meeting that is inprogress without having to have a meeting invitation issued to them orhaving to spend time searching for the meeting invitation previouslyprovided to them.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Techniques and systems for connecting to an online meeting are describedherein. In accordance with embodiments of the invention, content beingshared in an online meeting is provided with visual or audiblewatermarks overlaid and/or mixed in that contain the meeting'scoordinates. The watermarks can include, but are not limited to,barcodes and audio watermarking that encode and contain the URL and/orother information for joining the meeting. The watermarks can beautomatically generated and overlaid onto the content by a meetings orconferencing service.

According to one aspect, a person within sight or hearing of an onlinemeeting may join the meeting without knowing the meeting coordinates byusing their computing device to discover the coordinates overlaid on themeeting content.

According to one embodiment, a method is provided for joining themeeting that includes discovering the meeting coordinates by the imageor audio watermark overlaid onto content being shared. The meetingcoordinates can be discovered by a user's computing device by enablingthe camera and/or microphone to begin sensing images and audio providedby the meeting and searching for the visual or audible watermarks. Whenthe watermarks are encoded, such as when they are in the form of abarcode, then a decoding process may be performed to obtain the meetingcoordinates.

The discovered coordinates can then be used to navigate to the meetinglocation and credentials can be presented to gain admittance to themeeting in an appropriate role, allowing a variety of rich interactionswith the meeting including consuming meeting content directly on thedevice and controlling meeting content from that device.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an environment in which aconferencing system that provides meetings may operate.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a process for enabling in-personjoining of a meeting for a user who does not have coordinates for themeeting in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a simplified example graphical interface of a meetingapplication for sharing and accessing content in which various forms ofa meeting join link of embodiments of the invention may be superimposedor overlaid.

FIGS. 4A-4D are example slides having a various forms of a meeting joinlink superimposed or overlaid in accordance with certain embodiments ofthe invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an audio form of a meeting join linkmixed in or overlaid in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process for joining a meetingwithout having coordinates for the meeting in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an environment in which variousembodiments of the invention may be practiced.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating the processing carried out by aconferencing services server according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are a simplified front-side and back-side view,respectively, of a mobile computing with which embodiments of thepresent invention may be practiced.

FIG. 10 is a simplified diagram of a mobile computing device with whichembodiments of the present invention may be practiced.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating components of a mobile computingdevice with which embodiments of the invention may be practiced.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Techniques and systems for connecting to an online meeting are provided.

An online meeting or “meeting” refers to the virtual meeting space wherepeople can connect, share, and communicate. “Web conference” or “webconferencing” is often used interchangeably with “online meeting” andrefers to using the Internet to conduct and/or carry out an onlinemeeting. Online meeting applications and web conferencing applicationsare software tools and services that facilitate the creation and controlof a meeting, as well as provide various functions and features toparticipants of the meeting. For example, meeting and web conferencingapplications may include features such as video conferencing, desktopviewing, content/input control, chat/instant messaging, calling/phoneconferencing, and specific application sharing.

Examples of online meeting/web conferencing applications includeMICROSOFT OFFICE LIVE MEETING and LYNC, trademarks or registeredtrademarks of Microsoft Corp.; WEBEX, a registered trademark of CiscoSystems, Inc. and/or one or more of its subsidiaries; and GOTOMEETING, aregistered trademark of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one or more of itssubsidiaries.

Meeting and conferencing applications may utilize client side componentsand server side components in order to facilitate the meeting. Thecombination of client side components and server side components can bepart of a conferencing system in which one or more presenters and one ormore attendees interact.

The distinction between a presenter and an attendee of a meeting mayarise when it is desirable to distinguish who may have control of themeeting and its content. In some cases, it is desirable to limit thenumber of people who may edit a document or interact with content of ameeting while still enabling some functionality to others present forthe online meeting. The web conferencing service may provide differentconsoles depending on how a person joining the meeting is assigned. Inother cases, the distinction is merely to differentiate who is providingthe content at a given time and the control may be shared and/or passedfrom one attendee to another.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram illustrating an environment in which aconferencing system that provides meetings may operate. As depicted, theenvironment includes a first client device 101 that is either operatedby the presenter or an attendee of the meeting; a second client device102 of a person in the presence of the first client device 101 and whowould like to join the online portion of the meeting; and a conferencingservice server 110, each configured to communicate over a network 120.

The network 120 is a communications link that facilitates the transferof electronic content between, for example, the attached computersystems of the client devices and the server. The network can be, but isnot limited to, a cellular network, a point-to-point dial up connection,a satellite network, the Internet, a local area network (LAN), a widearea network (WAN), a WiFi network, or a combination thereof. Suchnetworks are widely used to connect various types of network elements,such as routers, servers, and gateways. It should also be understoodthat the invention can be practiced in a multi-network environmenthaving various connected public and/or private networks.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, communicationnetworks can take several different forms and can use several differentcommunication protocols. Certain embodiments of the invention can bepracticed in distributed-computing environments where tasks areperformed by remote-processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. In a distributed-computing environment, programmodules can be located in both local and remote computer-readablestorage media.

The computer systems of the first and second client devices 101, 102,and the conferencing service server 110 may include one or more centralprocessing units (CPUs) and/or digital signal processors (DSPs), memory,mass storage (e.g., hard drive, solid state drive), I/O devices (e.g.,network interface, user input devices), and a display (e.g., touchscreen, flat panel, liquid crystal display, solid state display).Elements of the computer system can communicate with each other via abus.

The computer systems of the first and second client devices 101, 102,and the conferencing service server 110 can be implemented as a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, a tablet, a phone, a server, or any othermachine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine, as well asmultiple machines that individually or jointly execute a set (ormultiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodsdescribed herein. When a computer system reads and executes instructionsthat may be stored as code and/or data on a computer-readable medium,the computer system performs the methods and processes embodied as datastructures and code stored within the computer-readable medium.

The first client device 101 may be any type of computer system thatprovides its user the ability to load and execute software programs andthe ability to access a network, such as network 120, and communicatewith the conferencing service server 110. Similarly, the second clientdevice 102 may be any type of computer system that provides its user theability to load and execute software programs and the ability to accessa network, such as network 120, and communicate with the conferencingservice server 110. In one embodiment, the first and second clientdevices 101, 102 are each executing a suitable operating system thatsupports the loading and executing of application programs, such as aweb browser or other suitable user interface program, for interactingwith and accessing the services provided on the conferencing serviceserver 110.

One or both of the first client device 101 and the second client device102 may be mobile computing devices such as a mobile phone, smart phone,a tablet computer, a laptop, and the like. In many embodiments, thefirst client device 101 is or includes a meeting facilitation device,which can include, but is not limited to, a projection screen, a digitalwhiteboard, a telephone (either traditional phone or one enabled througha computer), a computer (with monitor or other display), an interactivesurface computing platform, or a combination thereof.

It should be understood that the operating environment is not limited totwo client devices and other client devices 103 may communicate with theconferencing service server 110 over the network 120. These other clientdevices 103 may be operated by a presenter or an attendee of the meetingor by a person originally in the presence of a client device that isoperated by the presenter or attendee of the meeting. Thereforedescriptions of the first client device 101 and the second client device102 are applicable to the other client devices 103.

The conferencing service server 110 can provide a conferencing serviceby “hosting” conferencing sessions (i.e., online meetings) and runningan online meeting/web conferencing application. As depicted in FIG. 1,the conferencing service server 110 can include a web service component111, a host component 112, and a conferencing database 113. Inaccordance with embodiments of the invention, the conferencing serviceserver 110 also includes a coordinate broadcast component 114.

The coordinate broadcast component 114 overlays meeting content withmachine understandable/detectable data providing the information neededto facilitate a client device joining a meeting. This machineunderstandable/detectable data may be similar to mobile tagging and canbe used by a client device (such as the second client device 102) tojoin a meeting in progress when located in the presence of anotherclient device already connected to the meeting. The coordinate broadcastcomponent 114 may also include meeting coordinate encoding functionsthat can generate barcodes and/or watermarks from a database or on thefly. The barcodes may be one-dimensional, two-dimensional, or eventhree-dimensional barcodes (e.g., using time as a dimension such as ananimated or video barcode)

The web service component 111 can handle the scheduling of meetings andauthentication of users as generally performed in many web conferencingapplications. In one embodiment, the web service component serves themeeting URL and provides a web form that requests information, such as aname, password and any other auxiliary information. When a userinterested in joining the meeting uses a computing device, such as thesecond client device 102, to request to join the meeting and submits theinformation requested in the web form, the web service component 111authenticates the user and delivers a response that directs the user'sbrowser to the meeting page on the host component 112.

The host component 112 “hosts” the actual virtual meetings. The hostcomponent 112 processes the user's request for the meeting page (whichwas requested as a result of the web service component directing theuser's browser to the meeting page as described above) by verifying thatthe user is authorized to enter the meeting and presenting the user withan appropriate meeting page. The host component 112 supports the meetingfunctions. Once the user is connected with the appropriate meeting page,the coordinate broadcast component 114 may broadcast the coordinates ofthe meeting via the user's computing device. For example, the user'sdevice can broadcast the coordinates by rendering the data provided bythe broadcast component onto the display of the user's device.

It should be understood that a user may control whether and how thebroadcast feature is enabled. For example, when initially providingcontent to be shared via the online meeting, consent of the user and/orverification may be obtained with respect to enabling the meetingcoordinates to be provided with the shared content. An organizer mayalso control which participants may receive the broadcast and/or whethermeeting coordinates may be made available via the broadcast component.

The conferencing database 113 can be shared by the web service component111, the host component 112, and the coordinate broadcast component 114,and functions as a repository for the data and information used by thecomponents of the conferencing service server to facilitate the meeting.For example, the conferencing database 113 may represent and/or storeinformation and data such as the properties of each meeting, theauthentication records, the credentials of users authorized to entereach meeting, and the like.

The aforementioned aspects of the conferencing service server are onlyillustrative and are not intended to suggest any limitation as to theimplementation of the illustrated components and/or the scope of use orfunctionality of the conferencing service server 110. For example, invarious embodiments, the web service component 111, the host component112, the conferencing database 113, and the coordinate broadcastingcomponent 114 need not be implemented as part of the same computingsystem, but may be implemented in one or more different computingsystems.

It should be understood that the operating environment illustrated inFIG. 1 is only one example of a suitable operating environment and isnot intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use orfunctionality of the systems and methods for joining a meeting describedherein. Moreover, one skilled in the art will appreciate that theability to join an online meeting by being physically present in an areanear provided meeting content can be readily adapted to other forms ofvirtual conferencing and collaboration.

In accordance with embodiments of the invention, by using thecoordinates broadcast via the coordinate broadcast component 114 of theconferencing services server 110, a person wanting to join a meeting inprogress and who is within visual or audio range of an online meetingcan launch a meeting client and use their computing device (such as thesecond client device 102) to discover the meeting coordinates. Thediscovery of meeting coordinates can cause a web browser to execute andgo to the meeting URL address discovered during the discovery stage. Themeeting URL address may be served by the web service component 111 ofthe conferencing service server 110.

When the person's computing device opens the meeting URL address, a formmay be displayed on the person's computing device screen so that theperson may request to join the meeting. The form may request theperson's name and a password (and any other auxiliary information). Inone embodiment, by launching the site through the discovered coordinates(as opposed to an address provided in a traditional invitation), theform may be pre-filled with a password or there may not be an entry inthe form for a password. Instead, other security features may be used toauthorize a participant requesting to join the meeting. In anotherembodiment, the discovery of the meeting coordinates generates a meetinginvitation as generally provided in a traditional invitation. Thegenerated meeting invitation may be an email or message. In certainembodiments, the available modes of entering an online meeting once thecoordinates are discovered can be selected by, for example, a meetingorganizer.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a process for enabling in-personjoining of a meeting for a user who does not have coordinates for themeeting in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Theprocess illustrated in FIG. 2 may be carried out by a conferencingservice or other meeting application.

Referring to FIG. 2, when an online meeting is created, the coordinatesof the meeting can be encoded as a barcode or other watermark 210. Theencoding may include at least one of an audio encoding and a video/imageencoding. As content is uploaded for sharing to other participants ofthe meeting 220, the encoded coordinates can be overlaid or mixed intothe meeting content 230. Thus, when the content is shared via aconferencing application mediating the meeting, the encoded coordinates(in the form of an image and/or audio) are broadcast (or rendered) alongwith the content.

The encoded coordinates in the form of an image or audio may be overlaidor mixed into the content in a variety of ways. For example, the encodedcoordinates may be superimposed onto meeting content by inserting animage onto a region of the content being rendered such that the imageappears to be part of the content being displayed. As another example,the encoded coordinates may be mixed into the meeting content by, forexample, being an image inserted in video content by using theinterstitial frame of a video stream.

In another embodiment, the coordinates may not be encoded. Rather, thecoordinates may be presented on the content in the same form as would beprovided in a meeting invitation (e.g., a URL or dial in number). Thisnon-encoded meeting information may or may not be visible to a user butmay be captured by the user's computing device and, via textrecognition, facilitate the discovery of the meeting coordinates. Whenit is visible to the user, the user may directly enter the coordinatesin a web browser on their device.

FIG. 3 is a simplified example graphical interface of a meetingapplication for sharing and accessing content in which various forms ofa meeting join link of embodiments of the invention may be overlaid orsuperimposed. Referring to FIG. 3, a meeting or web conferencingapplication interface 300 can be used to share content 310. In additionto displaying shared content 310, the meeting or web conferencingapplication may include various functions to interact with otherparticipants 320 of the meeting. For example, video 325 and chat/instantmessaging 330 may optionally be included as part of the interface 300.

When content is being shared via the interface 300, the meeting or webconferencing application can cause the encoded coordinates of themeeting (e.g., a barcode or watermark 360) to be available on thecontent 310 being displayed via the interface 300. Simultaneously or asan alternative, the web conferencing application may provide an audiosignal encoding the meeting coordinates.

As one example where encoded coordinates (such as in the form of avisual tag) may be superimposed onto meeting content is when a screen orpresentation slide (such as content 310 of FIG. 3) is being shared toparticipants of a meeting. FIGS. 4A-4D are slides having a various formsof a meeting join link superimposed or overlaid in accordance withcertain embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4A shows a slide 410 on which a MICROSOFT Tag barcode 411 issuperimposed. The Tag barcode 411, when captured by an image capturedevice (e.g., camera) of a mobile computing device, enables the mobilecomputing device to launch a link to data stored on a server. Accordingto various embodiments of the invention, the Tag barcode providescoordinates of a meeting (for example, in the form of a URL). Tags maybe black-and-white or color. In some embodiments, the Tag barcode may bevisible on the slide and located at a border area of the slide so as tonot interfere with the content. In some embodiments, the Tag barcode maybe provided in a form that is not resolvable or visible to the human eyebut capturable by a user's mobile computing device.

FIG. 4B shows a slide 420 on which a Quick Response code (QR-code) 421is superimposed. A QR code is a matrix barcode easily recognized by thedistinctive square blocks. Similarly to the Tag barcode 411, when the QRcode 421 is captured by an image capture device (e.g., camera) of amobile computing device, the image is decoded (for example by a tagreading software) in order to provide coordinates of a meeting, whichcan be launched by the mobile computing device. QR codes may beblack-and-white or color. In some embodiments, the QR code may bevisible on the slide and located at a border area of the slide so as tonot interfere with the content. In some embodiments, the QR code may beprovided in a form that is not resolvable or visible to the human eyebut capturable by a user's mobile computing device.

FIG. 4C shows a slide 430 on which an image 431 is superimposed. Theimage 431 may be formed of dots (for example colored dots or a pixelatedimage) encoding the coordinates for the meeting such that a user'smobile computing device can capture the image, decode the image, andlaunch a link to the meeting. The image may incorporate a high capacitycolor barcode (HCCB).

FIG. 4D shows a slide 440 having an “invisible” watermarking 441. Theinvisible watermarking 441 can be a watermark that is not resolvable orvisible to the human eye, but capturable by a user's mobile computingdevice. For example, a barcode may flash on the screen, but do so tooquickly to be seen by the naked eye. In another embodiment, data may beembedded in high-frequency components of the image. When the cameracaptures the watermarking 441, a high pass or band-pass filter may beapplied to obtain the watermarking.

As yet another example of encoded coordinates, such as shown in FIG. 5,the encoded coordinates may be mixed into the audio stream such that anaudio signal (that may not be audible to humans) is output either duringtimes when no audio is being communicated or as part of the audiostream. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an audio form of a meeting joinlink mixed in or overlaid in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. Referring to FIG. 5, a meeting or web conferencing servicemay overlay or mix in a signal over the audio for the meeting.

For example, audio from a conference may be output from a speaker 500associated with a meeting facilitation device (or an attendee's clientdevice). The audio may have an audio watermarking encoded with the audiostream 520 that can be detected by an audio capture device (e.g., amicrophone) of a client computing device and deciphered/decoded by theclient computing device to provide the coordinates of the meeting.

In another embodiment, the audio watermarking can be transmitted alongwith (and on top of) the audio stream at a frequency that is not audibleto the human ear, for example in a similar fashion as a dog whistle. Inaccordance with various embodiments, the audio watermarking is overlaidon the audio stream and capable of being recognized by a user'scomputing device.

By presenting coordinates for the meeting as part of the content of themeeting, an in-room (or within hearing) attendee may pick up thecoordinates from the content in order to join the meeting.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process for joining a meetingwithout having coordinates for the meeting in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6, when a user isin the physical presence of a meeting being hosted by the conferencingservice (or other application that may communicate with a conferencingservices server) but is not connected to the meeting with theircomputing device (because they did not have the coordinates, nocoordinates were provided before the meeting, or it may be moreconvenient to use the Join function than to find the coordinatespreviously provided to the user), the user can launch a join meetingapplication (600) on their computing device.

The join meeting application may be a stand-alone application or may beassociated with a web conferencing application and can use the computingdevice to discover the meeting coordinates from audio or images providedby the meeting in progress.

When the join meeting application is launched, the application canenable or turn on the computing device's microphone and camera (601).The microphone is used to sense audio signals to search for an audiowatermark (602) and the camera is used to sense images(light/dark/color) to search for a barcode/tag or watermark (603).

The user may point the camera at a display on which content form ameeting is being presented and, in (603), the application searches thedata stream from the camera for an indication whether abarcode/tag/watermark is present (604). If a barcode/tag or watermark isdetermined to be present, then the image is captured (605) and thebarcode/tag/watermark is decoded (or deciphered) to obtain the meetingcoordinates (606). The application can then request to join the meetingusing the discovered meeting coordinates by, for example, launching abrowser and entering the coordinates to join the meeting (607).Additional authentication from the decoded barcode/tag or watermark maybe provided from the join meeting application to the conferencingservice in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention.

If the camera does not find a tag or watermark or if there is only audioat the user's location, then a determination can be made as to whetheran audio watermark is in the audio data stream (608). The user's devicemicrophone can be in a listening/watching mode waiting to detect thecoordinates from the audio content. If a watermark is determined to bepresent in the audio stream, then the watermark is decoded (ordeciphered) to obtain the meeting coordinates (609) and the discoveredcoordinates used to join the meeting (607). If an audio watermark isalso not found, then the application can output a message that nomeeting is available (610).

In certain cases, the searching for join information by the user'sdevice may take place over a period of time. For example, the camera maybe operated for a period of time to wait for a tag or watermark toappear. In certain embodiments where the join information is presentedinterstitially between frames, the tag or watermark may only appear onceevery second or every few seconds. The searching for the tag orwatermark can be performed for a length of time that makes it possibleto detect the interstitially located tag or watermark. In furtherembodiments, if at one point in time, no tag or watermark is detected,the application can retry automatically or prompt the user to manuallyretry.

In some embodiments the visual and audio search may be performedsimultaneously and if both searches return coordinates, the coordinatesmay be compared to determine that the two coordinates match or one ofthe two coordinates may take precedence over the other according to apredetermined rule set. In addition, in some embodiments where thesearch is performed sequentially, the audio portion may be conductedbefore the visual portion or the visual portion may be conducted beforethe audio portion.

FIG. 7 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments of theinvention may be practiced. Referring to FIG. 7, at least some meetingparticipants are physically together, such as in a physical meeting room700. A meeting of those at least some participants may be carried out inthe meeting room 700 where content is shared using a meetingfacilitation device 705. The meeting facilitation device 705 caninclude, but is not limited to, a projection screen, a digitalwhiteboard, a telephone (either traditional phone or one enabled througha computer), a computer (with monitor or other display), an interactivesurface computing platform, or a combination thereof.

The meeting facilitation device 705 can be used to connect to aconference services server 710 over a network 712.

Scenarios that may occur in which embodiments of the invention can bepracticed to enable enhanced interaction via web conferencing servicesinclude a scenario in which some participants know the meetingcoordinates and have connected to the meeting and a scenario in whichthese coordinates are transparent to all users (such as in the case ofan ad-hoc meeting).

In the case where some participants know the coordinates, a presentermay present content for sharing in the online meeting and theparticipants who were provided the coordinates (for example, via aninvitation transmitted to them by a meeting organizer prior to themeeting) can connect to the online meeting to view/hear the content.Some of the participants may be located remotely from each other. Forexample, participants of the meeting can include a person 715 locatedremotely from the physical meeting room 700 (and who may even be theinitial presenter and/or organizer for the meeting).

A person can also attend the meeting in a room in which the meeting isbeing conducted. Typically only one person in the room need know themeeting coordinates to connect the room to the meeting. For example,user 720 in the physical meeting room may have been provided thecoordinates of a meeting organized by the person 715 located remotelyand joined the meeting using a meeting facilitation device 705. Otherparticipants 725 may not have been provided the coordinates, but areable to participate through the connection to the meeting provided tothe user 720. However, without coordinates to the meeting, all otherparticipants 725 that do not have the coordinates but are present aremissing out on the opportunity to participate in the online portion ofthe meeting. These online portions of the meeting may include, but arenot limited to, instant messaging/chat, sharing their presence andvideo, downloading or capturing links to presented content, and takingadvantage of their personal device to consume and direct meetingcontent, as well as any other functionality provided by the conferenceservice application.

Because the in-room video and/or audio is being mediated by a meetingsapplication via the conference services server 710, that application hasthe ability to overlay or mix into the content a machine-readable set ofcoordinates for the meeting based on the settings for the onlinemeeting.

In accordance with embodiments of the invention, if a user in the roomwants to join the online portion of the meeting, the user may launchtheir meetings client application (e.g., a join meeting application suchas described with respect to FIG. 6) on their mobile computing device.For example, a first user 730 can use their tablet 732 to launch ameetings client application and a second user 740 can use their phone742 (e.g., a smart phone) to launch a meetings client application. Thedevice (e.g., tablet 732, phone 742) uses its microphone to listen foran acoustic watermark in the meeting audio while the device camera maybe pointed at the screen to pick up a visual watermark. If either ofthese detects meeting coordinates, the application will then navigatethe user to the join experience for this particular meeting.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating the processing carried out by aconferencing services server according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 8, where the overlaying of meetingcoordinates feature is enabled, when the presenter supplies content forthe meeting 810, the conferencing service overlays image or audio ontothe content 820. The image or audio is an encoded form of thecoordinates of the meeting created by the conferencing service. Theimage or audio may be a barcode or other audio or visual watermark. Anattendee of the meeting can launch a meetings client application 830from their computing device and begin searching for the encodedcoordinates using the camera and microphone capabilities of the device.Once the meeting coordinates are discovered 840, the coordinates aredecoded (or deciphered) from their form presented by the conferencingservice and the attendee can request to join the meeting 850.

At this point, the join experience may proceed as it does in cases wherethe meeting coordinates were shared in a traditional fashion, such as inemail. For example, the conferencing service can receive the request tojoin from the attendee and verify that the attendee has the appropriatecredentials to join 860.

If the conferencing service verifies that the person is authorized toattend the meeting as an attendee, the conferencing service can assignan identifier to the person (for example as an in-person attendee),launch a console (meeting interface) on the person's computing devicescreen, and add the person to a list of people currently in the meeting.

Security may also be a concern with respect to who may attend and howmany attendees can be supported by the online meeting. Therefore, manyapproaches exist to ensure that only those invited to a meeting canconnect to the meeting and access the content. Accordingly, certainembodiments of the invention can provide some additional control overwho receives the content because a user (with computing device) must bephysically present to see the image overlaid on the content of themeeting. This can be used to limit the “invitees” to the meeting tothose in attendance in person.

In addition, connecting to a meeting in accordance with embodiments ofthe invention may be used as an in-person check-in. For example, wheremeetings are being held in multiple physical locations, the attendees ateach physical location may join using a different encoded authenticationwith the coordinates of the meeting so that the meeting may know notonly who is present, but also their locations. In addition, the encodedauthentication and/or coordinates may change over time (for example atpredetermined intervals during the course of a meeting), which may deterthe sharing of coordinates to those not actually present.

The join experience may be further augmented by the knowledge that theuser had to be physically present to receive the in-room credentials.For example, because possessing the credentials shared only in themeeting suggests physical presence in the meeting it may be possible toautomatically join the meeting (without manually entering furthercredentials requiring manual admission to the meeting) when thecoordinates are obtained using the in-person joining process.

In the case where the coordinates are transparent to all users, such asan ad hoc meeting scenario, a group of people may have gathered to meetand are using a computer to project content or are using a digitalwhiteboard to facilitate their discussion. For example, the user 720,other participants 725, first user 730, and second user 740 may decideto gather in the physical meeting room 700 and use meeting facilitatingdevice 705 to facilitate their discussion. Since these participants areall local and the meeting may not have been scheduled in advance, it ispossible that no online meeting coordinates were generated or sharedahead of time.

Furthermore, it is possible that the people in the meeting do notoriginally appreciate that an online meeting service (and its associatedfunctionality) would be beneficial to support the meeting. In certainembodiments, an application presenting the content may be meetings-awaresuch that meeting coordinates can be generated and shown.

For example, a presentation software, such as MICROSOFT POWERPOINT, aregistered trademark of Microsoft Corp., may be used to showpresentation slides to the group in the meeting. In one embodiment, thepresentation software connects to a meeting service for coordinates(either upon launch or upon request of a user) and overlays the meetingcoordinates onto the slides being presented. A user connecting to themeeting service with these coordinates would cause the presentationsession to escalate into an online meeting with richer capabilities.

Similarly, an application controlling a digital whiteboard couldescalate to an online meeting by connecting to a conferencing servicesserver (or other host) for coordinates, which are then provided overlaidon the whiteboard content in accordance with embodiments of theinvention. A digital whiteboard may look like a traditional whiteboardin that users may write on the board (with dry erase markers orspecialized styluses) but also includes a system that enables images tobe displayed on the whiteboard and have the writing on the board storedfor later review (and possible edit). A whiteboard application can beused to facilitate the digital part of the system.

In some embodiments, access to persisted whiteboard content (e.g., thecontent stored for later review and possible edit) can be controlled bypresenting coordinates for the stored content on the whiteboard'sdisplay (in the form of a barcode/watermark). In one such embodiment,when a user connects via their mobile computing device to thewhiteboard's “meeting” using the barcode/watermark overlaid on thewhiteboard's content, the user may become an authenticated participantin the discussion: recorded as having been present and potentiallygranted rights to the persisted whiteboard. In this manner, a user canconnect to a whiteboard using a similar process as connecting to anonline meeting and will be able to record the whiteboard and have accessto richer forms of the whiteboard (as compared to simply taking asnapshot of the whiteboard with a camera), structured data or recognizedcontent, and the evolution of the whiteboard over time.

The embodiments and functionalities described herein may operate via amultitude of computing systems such as the server 110, and the clientdevices 101, 102, 103 described above with reference to FIG. 1,including wired and wireless computing systems, mobile computing systems(e.g., mobile telephones, tablet or slate type computers, laptopcomputers, etc.). In addition, the embodiments and functionalitiesdescribed herein may operate over distributed systems (e.g., cloud-basedcomputing systems), where application functionality, memory, datastorage and retrieval and various processing functions may be operatedremotely from each other over a distributed computing network, such asthe Internet or an intranet.

In addition, user interfaces and information of various types may bedisplayed via on-board computing device displays or via remote displayunits associated with one or more computing devices. For example, userinterfaces and information of various types may be displayed andinteracted with on a wall surface onto which user interfaces andinformation of various types are projected. Interaction with themultitude of computing systems with which embodiments of the inventionmay be practiced include, keystroke entry, touch screen entry, voice orother audio entry, gesture entry where an associated computing device isequipped with detection (e.g., camera) functionality for capturing andinterpreting user gestures for controlling the functionality of thecomputing device, and the like.

FIGS. 9A, 9B, 10, and 11 and the associated descriptions provide adiscussion of a variety of systems in which embodiments of the inventionmay be practiced. It should be understood that the devices and systemsillustrated and discussed with respect to these figures are for purposesof example and illustration and are not limiting of a vast number ofcomputing device configurations that may be utilized for practicingembodiments of the invention, described herein.

FIGS. 9A and 9B show a simplified front-side and back-side view of amobile computing device with which embodiments of the present inventionmay be practiced. According to one implementation, the mobile computingdevice 900 can be a smart phone with a speaker 910, camera 920, LEDflash 925, and microphone 930. When in discovery mode, the camera 920and microphone 930 can be operated.

FIG. 10 shows a simplified diagram of a mobile computing device withwhich embodiments of the present invention may be practiced. Accordingto one implementation, the mobile computing device 1000 can be a tabletwith a touch screen on which a user can tap 1010 an input selection suchas a request to discover meeting coordinates. For example, by selecting“discover” 1020 within a meeting application on the mobile computingdevice 1000, the device's camera (not shown) can begin scanning for abarcode or watermark and the device's microphone 1030 can begindetecting for an audio watermark.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating components of a mobile computingdevice used in some embodiments, such as the computing devices shown inFIGS. 9A and 9B or FIG. 10. That is, the mobile computing devices 900,1000 shown in FIGS. 9A-9B and 10 can incorporate system 1100 toimplement some embodiments. For example, system 1100 can be used inimplementing a tablet (e.g., 1000) or smart phone (e.g., 900) that canrun one or more applications similar to those of a desktop or notebookcomputer such as, for example, browser, e-mail, scheduling, instantmessaging, and media player applications. In some embodiments, system1100 is an integrated computing device, such as an integrated personaldigital assistant (PDA) and wireless phone.

System 1100 includes a processor 1105 that processes data according toinstructions of one or more application programs 1110 and/or operatingsystem 1120. The one or more application programs 1110 may be loadedinto memory 1115 and run on or in association with the operating system1120. Examples of application programs include phone dialer programs,web conferencing programs, e-mail programs, personal informationmanagement (PIM) programs, word processing programs, spreadsheetprograms, Internet browser programs, messaging programs, game programs,and the like. Other applications may be loaded into memory 1115 and runon the device, including various client and server applications.

System 1100 also includes non-volatile storage 1125 within memory 1115.Non-volatile storage 1125 may be used to store persistent informationthat should not be lost if system 1100 is powered down. Applicationsprograms 1110 may use and store information in non-volatile storage1125, such as e-mail or other messages used by an e-mail application,and the like. A synchronization application may also be included andreside as part of the application programs 1110 for interacting with acorresponding synchronization application on a host computer system(such as a server) to keep the information stored in non-volatilestorage 1125 synchronized with corresponding information stored at thehost computer system.

System 1100 has a power supply 1130, which may be implemented as one ormore batteries and/or an energy harvester (ambient-radiation,photovoltaic, piezoelectric thermoelectric electrostatic, and the like).Power supply 1130 might further include an external power source, suchas an AC adapter or a powered docking cradle that supplements orrecharges the batteries.

System 1100 may also include a radio/network interface 1135 thatperforms the function of transmitting and receiving radio frequencycommunications. The radio/network interface 1135 facilitates wirelessconnectivity between system 1100 and the “outside world,” via acommunications carrier or service provider. Transmissions to and fromthe radio/network interface 1135 are conducted under control of theoperating system 1120. In other words, communications received by theradio/network interface 1135 may be disseminated to application programs1110 via operating system 1120, and vice versa.

The radio/network interface 1135 allows system 1100 to communicate withother computing devices, such as over a network.

An audio interface 1140 can be used to provide audible signals to andreceive audible signals from the user. For example, the audio interface1140 can be coupled to speaker (e.g., 910 of FIG. 9A) to provide audibleoutput and a microphone (e.g., 930 of FIG. 9B, 1030 of FIG. 10) toreceive audible input, such as to facilitate a telephone conversation.In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, the microphonemay also serve as an audio sensor in order to facilitate theimplementation of various embodiments of the invention. System 1100 mayfurther include video interface 1145 that enables an operation ofon-board camera 1150 to record still images, video stream, and the like,as well as to serve as an image sensor in order to facilitate theimplementation of various embodiments of the invention. Visual outputcan be provided via a touch screen display 1155. In some cases, thedisplay may not be touch screen and a user input elements, such asbuttons, keys, roller wheel, and the like are used to select itemsdisplayed as part of a graphical user interface on the display 1155. Akeypad 1160 can also be included for user input. The keypad 1160 may bea physical keypad or a soft keypad generated on the touch screen display1155.

It should be understood the any mobile computing device implementingsystem 1100 may have additional features or functionality and is notlimited to the configurations described herein.

In various implementations, data/information generated or captured bythe device (e.g., 900, 1000) and stored via the system 1100 may bestored locally on the device, as described above, or the data may bestored on any number of storage media that may be accessed by the devicevia the radio/network interface 1135 or via a wired connection betweenthe device and a separate computing device associated with the device,for example, a server computer in a distributed computing network, suchas the Internet. As should be appreciated such data/information may beaccessed via the device via the radio/network interface 1135 or via adistributed computing network. Similarly, such data/information may bereadily transferred between computing devices for storage and useaccording to well-known data/information transfer and storage means,including electronic mail and collaborative data/information sharingsystems.

Certain techniques set forth herein may be described in the generalcontext of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules,executed by one or more computing devices. Generally, program modulesinclude routines, programs, objects, components, and data structuresthat perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract datatypes. Certain methods and processes described herein can be embodied ascode and/or data, which may be stored on one or more computer-readablemedia. Computer-readable media can be any available computer-readablestorage media or communication media that can be accessed by thecomputer system. Certain embodiments of the invention contemplate theuse of a machine in the form of a computer system within which a set ofinstructions, when executed, can cause the system to perform any one ormore of the methodologies discussed above.

Communication media includes computer-readable instructions, datastructures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signalsuch as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes anydelivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that hasone or more of its characteristics changed or set in a manner as toencode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation,communication media includes wired media such as a wired network ordirect-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF,infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of the any of the aboveshould also be included within the scope of computer-readable media

It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatcomputer-readable storage media include removable and non-removablestructures/devices that can be used for storage of information, such ascomputer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, andother data used by a computing system/environment. A computer-readablestorage medium includes, but is not limited to, volatile memory such asrandom access memories (RAM, DRAM, SRAM); and non-volatile memory suchas flash memory, various read-only-memories (ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM),magnetic and ferromagnetic/ferroelectric memories (MRAM, FeRAM), andmagnetic and optical storage devices (hard drives, magnetic tape, CDs,DVDs); or other media now known or later developed that is capable ofstoring computer-readable information/data for use by a computer system.Computer storage media should not be construed or interpreted to includeany carrier waves or propagating signals.

Furthermore, in addition to being implemented as software, the methodsand processes described herein can be implemented in hardware modules.For example, the hardware modules can include, but are not limited to,application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips, field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs), and other programmable logic devices now known orlater developed. When the hardware modules are activated, the hardwaremodules perform the methods and processes included within the hardwaremodules

Any reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” “example embodiment,” etc., means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Theappearances of such phrases in various places in the specification arenot necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. In addition, anyelements or limitations of any invention or embodiment thereof disclosedherein can be combined with any and/or all other elements or limitations(individually or in any combination) or any other invention orembodiment thereof disclosed herein, and all such combinations arecontemplated with the scope of the invention without limitation thereto.

It should be understood that the examples and embodiments describedherein are for illustrative purposes only and that various modificationsor changes in light thereof will be suggested to persons skilled in theart and are to be included within the spirit and purview of thisapplication.

1. A method for facilitating connecting to an online meeting, the methodcomprising: discovering meeting coordinates of an online meeting by animage or audio watermark overlaid onto content being shared by theonline meeting.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the image or audiowatermark comprises: a barcode encoding information including themeeting coordinates of the online meeting.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein discovering the meeting coordinates of the online meeting by theimage or audio watermark overlaid onto content being shared by theonline meeting comprises: enabling a camera of a user device; capturingthe barcode from a display comprising content of the online meeting; anddecoding the captured barcode to obtain the meeting coordinates.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the image or audio watermark comprises: theaudio watermark, wherein the audio watermark encodes informationincluding the meeting coordinates of the online meeting.
 5. The methodof claim 4, wherein discovering the meeting coordinates of the onlinemeeting by the image or audio watermark overlaid onto content beingshared by the online meeting comprises: enabling a microphone of a userdevice; detecting the audio watermark in an audio stream output of theonline meeting; and deciphering the audio watermark to obtain themeeting coordinates.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprisinglaunching a web browser and navigating to the discovered meetingcoordinates to join the online meeting.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein the image or audio watermark further comprises authenticationinformation, the method further comprising automatically joining themeeting using the meeting coordinates and the authenticationinformation.
 8. A system for facilitating connecting to an onlinemeeting, comprising: a computer-readable storage medium havinginstructions stored thereon that when executed by a computing devicecause the computing device to perform a method comprising: searching toidentify an image overlaid onto content being shared by an onlinemeeting using an image capture device of the computing device, whereinthe image encodes information including meeting coordinates of theonline meeting; and/or searching to identify an audio watermark overlaidonto content being shared by the online meeting using an audio capturedevice of the computing device, wherein the audio watermark encodesinformation including meeting coordinates of the online meeting.
 9. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises: decoding anyidentified image to obtain the information including the meetingcoordinates; and launching a browser to navigate to the meetingcoordinates.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein the method furthercomprises: deciphering any identified audio watermark to obtain theinformation including the meeting coordinates; and launching a browserto navigate to the meeting coordinates.
 11. The system of claim 8,wherein the information further includes authentication information, themethod further comprising: decoding any identified image to obtain theinformation including the meeting coordinates and the authenticationinformation; and automatically joining the online meeting using thedecoded meeting coordinates and the authentication information.
 12. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the information further includesauthentication information, the method further comprising: decipheringany identified audio watermark to obtain the information including themeeting coordinates and the authentication information; andautomatically joining the online meeting using the deciphered meetingcoordinates and the authentication information.
 13. A method forfacilitating joining a device to an online meeting, the methodcomprising: overlaying an image or audio watermark onto content beingshared by an online meeting, the image or audio watermark encodinginformation including meeting coordinates of the online meeting.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, wherein overlaying the image or audio watermark ontothe content being shared by the online meeting comprises: rendering theimage on a display on which the content being shared by the onlinemeeting is rendered.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein overlaying theimage or audio watermark onto the content being shared by the onlinemeeting comprises: rendering the image on a display during aninterstitial frame of a visual stream of the content being shared by theonline meeting.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein overlaying the imageor audio watermark onto the content being shared by the online meetingcomprises: inserting the audio watermark into an audio stream of thecontent being shared by the online meeting.
 17. The method of claim 13,further comprising generating the image or audio watermark to encode themeeting coordinates and authentication information.
 18. The method ofclaim 17, further comprising: changing the authentication information atpredetermined intervals; and generating a new image or audio watermarkfor each interval and overlaying the new image or audio watermark ontothe content being shared by the online meeting.
 19. The method of claim13, further comprising: providing a unique image or audio watermark foroverlaying onto content being shared by the online meeting for eachdevice connected to an online meeting server hosting the online meeting.20. The method of claim 13, further comprising: receiving a request froma user device to join the online meeting using the meeting coordinates;and authenticating the user device.